Page 39 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Well? Yes or no.
Amanda Bailey
WhatsApp messages between retired detective chief superintendent Don Makepeace and me, 28 June 2021:
Don Makepeace
I’ve tracked down your police officer Jonathan Childs.
Amanda Bailey
Ace! Thanks, Don. Wherever he was, I knew you’d dig him up!
Don Makepeace
He died in May of this year. Bowel cancer.
Amanda Bailey
Oh. Sorry to hear that.
Don Makepeace
He had a wife. Will she be useful to you?
Amanda Bailey
The insight she’s likely to have probably won’t be worth the time it’ll take to speak with her. Thanks anyway, Don. Much appreciated.
Amanda Bailey
Actually, yes. Please can I have her details?
My email reply to amateur sleuth David Polneath, 28 June 2021:
TO:David Polneath
DATE:28 June 2021
SUBJECT:Re: The Alperton Angels
FROM:Amanda Bailey
Dear David,
Thank you for getting in touch regarding the Alperton Angels. I’m not in need of an assistant at this time. However, can I ask what it is about this case you find so fascinating? I might include some vox pops as part of the intro. I’ll name check you if your quote makes it.
I’ve read all the news reports as you suggest. It’s true there is a change in the number of bodies reported during that week. Only, I’ve worked in newsrooms myself and can assure you that’s a very common discrepancy. The police try to keep numbers out of the press, while reporters are interested almost exclusively in ‘how many dead’. It’s a whispering game.
However, that’s not to say this is an easy case to research. Forthcoming interviewees are few and far between. Plus, the ring of secrecy around the baby in particular – and the teenagers, too – makes untangling the facts all these years later somewhat tricky.
Can I ask: do you have any contacts who worked in police or socialservices at the time, and who have proven honest, plausible and useful to your own research? If so, then I will be eternally grateful if you could let me have their details – or pass mine on to them. Have no doubt I will mention you in the acknowledgements if they do.
All the best,
Amanda Bailey
Interview with Penny Latke, A&E nurse at Ealing Hospital on the night Holly and the baby were brought in. Takes place at the bus stop outside Ealing Hospital, 28 June 2021. Transcribed by Ellie Cooper.
